Endless-tread tractor



JgBARLETTA. ENDLESS TREAD TRACTOR. APPLICATION FILED MAR. 3. 1919.

1,364,020, Patented Dec. 28,1920.

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J. BARLETTA.

ENDLESS TREAD TRAQTOR. APPLICATION FILED MAR. 3, 1919.

1,364,020, I Patented Dec. 28,1920.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- IN VEN TOR T all whom it may concern:

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFKI'C'E.,

JOHN BARLETTA, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

- riNDLEss-TREAD TRACTOR.

Be it known that 1, JOHN zen of the United fitates, res d ng at SanFrancisco, in the county of San Francisco and State of California, haveinvented new and useful Endless-Tread Tractors er.

' which the following'is a specificationxinsuch full and clear terms aswill enable those skilled in the. art to construct and use the same. p

This invention relates to an endless tread series of rollers for thetractor to ride upon the endless tread.

Another object of the. invention is to provide a driving sprocket whichwill strike the endless tread in'only two places thereby preventing therapid deterioration of the chain from interfering with the continuoususeof the tractor. I It will be understood by those skilled in theart thatwith endless tread tractors, there isa very considerable wear'of th'echain due to the accumulation of .dirt and sand which causes the linksto wear thepins and them selves so that in a short time, the chain haselongated itself so much that it will no longer work over the ordinarysprocket wheels. 4 j I In the presentinst'ance," means is provided totake up the slack of the chain as it may wear equall at both ends of themachine and the driving sprocketcontacting with only two rollers at atime, so that a very considerable amount of wear of the links ispermissible before the chain becomes useless.

. Another object of the invention is to providemeans whereby the"tractor may be easilysteered. p

Another objectof the lnvention is to provide spring held g'rowser plateswhich will permit the machine to easily pass .over' rough ground and allordinary obstructions without serious difiiculty.

Other objects of the invention will apin the accompanyingdrawingsinwhich the same reference numeral 1s applied tothe same portionthroughout, but I am aware that there may be modifications thereof.

In the drawings: Figurel is a vertical sectional view of one of theendless treads,

Fig. 2 is a-- sectional view iv of the tread BARL TTA, citi-.

1919. Serial no.2so,25s.-j

Specification of Letters Patent. P t 'h t D 1920 Application filed March3,

shown in Fig. 1 on the-line 2-2 looking in the direction ofthe-arrows,,1. Fig. 3 isa sectional view of theifraine' for. holding theendless/tread, on the line 3+3 Fig. 1,1ooking in the direction of thear-' rows,

. Fig. 4: is

g a complete tractor on a smaller I =-'sc'ale, Fig. 5 is a plan view ofa portion of-the l i ,frame,--illustrating the manner of adjusting 4 itupon the tightenin of the chain, I tractor one objectof which istoprovide a 'Fig. 6 i a vertica sectional view of the box.within which thedriving and steering mechanism is installed, taken on the :line

I 6-6, F ig.-7 ,land looking in the direction of shafts 5 to 8.i'nclusive by means of set screws 12. The shafts 5 to 8 inclusive areheld ,in an intermediate position withlrespe'ct to the frames 11 bymeans of spiral springs 13 to 16 in each of the frames. The

frames 11 are each rectangular in shape and each is in turn connected tochannel steel members 17 and 18 the channel member 17 connecting two ofthe frames 11 at'the top andthe member 18'connecting them at the bottom.Opposite these two channels 17 and 18 and secured to the end of twoofthe frames 11, are two oppositely placed, identical channels 19 and 20.I

' Thesefour channels, of which'thereis a complete set on each side'ofthe machine, are rigidly secured to, two of the frames '11.

-Extending through them are four U shaped angle irons 21', 22, 23 and24:. These angle irons 21 to 24 inclusive form a track for the rollersof the endless tread; and they are adjusted by means of the two nuts 26,27

' which are revoluble on the studs 28 and 29 carried by the frames 11.

Rigidly' connected with the angle iron tracks 21 to 24: inclusive aretwo screws 31 and 32, the result of which construction is means of 'afour prong spring 55.

- spring passes through loops 56 carried by the may be necessary,

that by the rotationpf the nuts 26, and 27 the four tracks will be'movednearer together or farther apart as may be desired;

and when placed in a given ad uStment they I are secured in thatadjustment by tightening the bolts .34 to 37 inclusive which passthrough the horizontal portions ofsaid The endless tread consists of aplurality of -.nested growser plates 40, each of which hasupturned'fianges 41, 42 at its outer edges widened at one end andnarrowedat the other so as to fit together. ,plates also have twocentrally disposed webs These growser 43,44 which webs form thelinks forconnect-- ing the several growser plates together. These links areshaped to lieside by side, alternately, as indicated inFig. 1; and areconnected together by means of the pins 45.

. The pins 45 carry small rollers 46 withwhich'the driving sprockets 47,48 contact,

"-and' 'they are each alsoprovided with two rollers 47 48 which rollersalways run in contact with the angle irons 21 to 24 inclusive as willbeobserved in Fig. 2. The.

ends of the angle iron tracks 21 to 24 inclu-j sive are cut'on .an angle.as indicated at 50,

51 ingorder to permit the'tracks to be moved a considerable distanceapart without producing a bump for the rollers 47, 48 to' strike. Itwill be noted that the growser plates are curved at one end as indicatedat 52, and at the other end as indicated at 53, to fit closely togetherto prevent the ingress of dirt. The "growser plates are eachindividually con nected to a ground plate 54 and this ground.

plate is connected to the growser plates by Said plate 54. These springsare'connected with the growser lates by means of a suitable bolt 57, theo ject of which is to provide a ground plate which will be capable. ofrocking from side to side oi'ffromend to'end, as in passing over roughground.

The driving sprockets are carried upon the opposite ends of two alinedtransversely extending shafts 58 and 59. The shafts 58, 59 extend into agear box 60, which gear box has suitable bearings 61 for the worm gear'62 on the driving shaft, and other suitably supported bearings 63, 64for the worm wheel .65 which the worm drives.

The worm wheel 65 is carried by a short shaft 66 whichhas holes in eachend to receive projected stub shafts '67, 68 carried by the inner endsof the shafts 58 and 59.

The short shaft 66 is provided with two fixed disks 69 and 70, whichwith the cups of disk plates 73 and 74 a pair of disk' of'the worm wheel65.

The disk .73 and the disk 74 s. pushed into engagement by the pressureof the 79 and 80 inside the gear box.

the cups are grooved as indicated at 81 and 182 to enable pins. on theyoke levers 83 and springs 77 and 78 upon the hubs of the cups clutchesof a well known type on each side 71 72, said springsbearing againstrings 1 The hubs of 84 to relieve the pressure of the springs upon thecups for the purpose'of driving the tractor treads one side or the otherside of the machine.

. The levers 83 and 84 are pivoted at 85 and 86 within the gear box, andat their opposite ends there are pins 87 and 88 which pass through slotsin the ends of a bar 89. Said slotsare so arranged as to permit the barto move in one direction without interfering with the lever .at itsopposite end. The. bar 89 is pivotally-connectedto a short lever 90 onthe lower end of the steering post 91.

-The steering post is supported in a journal 92 connected with the gearbox 60:

In operation, the steering wheel is rotated slightly to the right rleft,,as may be de- 6' sired. When the steering wheel is rotated to theright, the bar 89 is moved up, Fig. 7, with the result that the clutchplates 73 are released from each other and the sprocket wheel 48 drivesforwardly alone, thereby causing the tractor to turn to the right and anopposite action takes plaeewhen it is desired to .turn the tractor tothe left.

The engine is connected withthe driving gear casing which takes the samemotion as the, treads by an forming no part 0 the present invention andtherefore not illustrated.

Having thus describedmy invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent of the United States is as fol-.

lows U 1. An endless tread tractor comprislng a main frame for thesupport of an engine suitable flexible means w and driver, a pair ofaxles connected thereslides in which said boxes move, a pair of endlesstracks connected with saidfslides, springs above and below the axles tohold themin a given position with respect of the frame and endlesstreads having rollers engaging said tracks for the supportand propulsionof the tractor. I

-2. An endless tread tractor comprising a frame for the support ofanengine, and driver, a pair of longitudinally adjustable tracks connectedwith the frame, springs to hold the tracks in a given position withrespect to the frame, and endless treads having rollers to engage saidtracks for the support of the frame.

3. An endless tread tractor comprising a .with, boxes to which the axlesare connected,

main frame for an engine and driver, a pair of endless tracksresiliently connected to the main frame, means to" adjust thelongitudinal relationship of the endless tracks, an endless treadpassing around each endless track, rollers carried by said endlesstreads and in contact with the tracks, a sprocket wheel for driving theendless tread, and channel members through which the rollers pass toprevent the endless treads from be--- 'ing forced out of engagement withthe driving sprockets.

a. A ground plate for endless tread tram tors comprising a link carryinga growser plate, a ground plate connected to the.

growser plate by means of a four armed spring capable of permitting theground plate to move in two planes. 5. An endless tread for tractors inga growser plate having two webs projecting. therefrom to form the treadlinks, pins at the endsof the Webs for connecting the next adjacentlinks thereto, a central roller on each pin to engage the drivesprocket, and two larger outer rollers on each pin to carry the loadupon the endless tread.

y 6.- An endless tread tractor comprising a main frame adapted'tosupport an engine and driver, a pair of endless tracks resilientlyconnected to'the main frame, the tracks comprising channel irons and twopairs of comprisand driver, a pair of endless tracks resilientlyconnected to the main frame, means to adjust the longitudinalrelationship of the endless tracks, an endless tread passing around eachendless track, rollers carried-by said treads and in contact with thetracks,

means to drive the endless treads, and channel members through'which therollers pass. 8. An endless tread tractor comprising a main frame forthe support -'of anengine.

and driver, a pair of endless tracks connected with the frame, springsto hold-the tracks resiliently in a given position with respect to themain frame, means to adjustthe position of the tracks at front and rear,endless treads passing around the tracks, rollers carried by said treadsin contact with said tracks, drive sprockets adjacent the middle runofthel endless treads and inengage ment therewith at top and bottom,and'means to prevent the endless treads from passing out of engagementwiththe drive sprockets.

9 An endless tread tractor,comprising a main frame for the support of anengine, and driver, a pair of endless tracks connected therewith,springslto hold the tracks resili-' entlyin a given position withrespect to the main frame, means to adjust the position of the trackslongitudinally at front and rear,

endless treads passing around the tracks, rollers carried by said treadsin contact with said tracks, drive sprockets adjacent the middle run ofthe endless treadsand in en-' gagement therewith at top and bottom, and

means to prevent the endless treads from passing out of engagement withthe drive sprockets, said means including channel bars placed withtheirflanges facing eachother through which the endless tread rollers pass.In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 1919. j Y

' JOHN BARLETTA;

20" day of February, A, 'D.

